Poetry’s place in a time of climate crisis
While I agree that clarity about the climate crisis can sometimes be “lost in a blizzard of scientific data”, poetry is surely not the only, and perhaps not even the best, way to inspire awareness and hope by offering “clarity beyond data” (Editorial, 10 November)?
Those artists, like poets, who have a special talent for expressing difficult things in words, might do better writing short prose pieces for newspapers or other media which more readily connect with the concerns of the majority of people who don’t regularly read “great” poetry. Even if this involves making use of cliches and soundbites, it is more likely to make something happen than what literary buffs would regard as a “good” poem.
The whole point of poetry is that it reflects the sensitivities, uncertainties, the problems of grappling with language, as well hopes and fears of individual poets. This may have a political edge, but it is often a great poem because it includes the confusions endemic to human existence as well as moments of clarity.
John Quicke
Patrington, East Yorkshire
• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
